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11-01-14

The American Spring: US left Iraq in violent pieces

November 1, 2013 - US spent trillions and left Iraq in violent pieces

As Iraq's prime minister visits Washington, BBC North America bureaux chief Paul Danahar, who was based in Baghdad during the US-led invasion, says the country America left behind is broken, and Middle Eastern strong men are flexing their muscles.

Only people with no long-term vested interest in the well-being of the subjects of a state could have conjured up Iraq.

Neither the country nor the political power structures within it would have naturally come about without the intervention of foreigners.

The Arab nationalism of Saddam Hussein's Baathism was a reaction to the selfish audacity of colonial rule.

The above is also broadly true in Syria. Neither country now necessarily has a future within its present borders.